here - United Kingdom Parliament

1253W
Written Answers
6 JUNE 2013
Written Answers
1254W
of the introduction of housing costs contributions under
universal credit. [157630]
Steve Webb: It has long been a feature of the benefits
system that someone living in a claimant’s home should
be expected to contribute towards the rent.
It is not possible to isolate the impact of the housing
cost contribution from the other constituent parts of
universal credit. This means that no assessment is available
on the potential impacts of the housing cost contribution
in universal credit in respect of homelessness or youth
unemployment. However, individuals aged under 21
will not be expected to make a housing cost contribution,
and so we do not anticipate this change to have a
detrimental effect of homelessness on this group.
While it is not possible to isolate the effects of the
housing cost contribution, the impact of universal credit
will be reviewed and monitored as roll out takes place,
and a comprehensive evaluation programme is under
development. The published impact assessment for universal
credit can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-creditimpact-assessment
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and
Pensions how many people have successfully claimed
universal credit in the pathfinder to date. [158212]
Mr Hoban: I refer the right hon. Gentleman to the
reply I provided him with on 21 May 2013, Official
Report, column 675W, on how many people have claimed
universal credit in the pathfinder to date. The Department
is working to guidelines set by the UK Statistics Authority
to ensure we are able to publish statistics that meet high
quality standards at the earliest opportunity. We intend
to publish Official Statistics on pathfinder areas in
autumn 2013.
We expect around 7,000 claims to be processed in
pathfinders.
Work Capability Assessment
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for
Work and Pensions what steps a person undergoing a
work capability assessment has to take in order to
obtain an audio recording of their assessment. [158174]
Mr Hoban: All requests for audio recorded assessments
should be made to Atos Healthcare as part of the
appointment booking process. This is to ensure adequate
notice to make recording equipment available and ready
for use.
In the case of a claimant using their own equipment
this will ensure that the Atos health care professional
(HCP) conducting the assessment is aware and to make
sure that the proposed recording equipment is compliant
with the DWP/Atos Healthcare requirements.
If Atos Healthcare has been unable to contact a
claimant by phone and an appointment letter is issued,
the claimant will need to telephone Atos Healthcare as
soon as possible to notify them of their request for a
recorded assessment.
If a claimant makes a request for the recording
service to a DWP Benefit Centre they will be advised to
make their request to Atos Healthcare.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for
Work and Pensions what items of equipment are
available for the audio recording of the work capability
assessments. [158187]
Mr Hoban: Currently Atos Healthcare has 31 audio
recording machines, three of which are in for repair.
They also have access to 21 cassette machines on loan
from DWP.
Claimants who have requested to record their own
assessment must use appropriate equipment that can
provide two copies of the recording in such a way to
ensure that the recording has not been tampered with
and is a reliable and accurate record of the assessment.
For this reason certain devices which are capable of
real-time editing or live-streaming are not approved;
such as computing devices, these include but are not
limited to; PCs and laptops, tablets, smart phones, MP3
players or devices which cannot provide a media copy
that can be easily verified during the assessment. Media
types that are acceptable at this time are standard CD
and audio tapes only.
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for
Work and Pensions how many requests for an audio
recording of the work capability assessment have been
turned down to date; and for what reasons. [158188]
Mr Hoban: Presently only nine requests for an audio
recording have been turned down, this occurred in July
2012. This was because they could not be accommodated
within the four week timeframe for arranging assessments.
DWP had previously asked Atos Healthcare to
accommodate requests for recorded assessments within
four weeks and where this was not possible the assessment
should go ahead without a recording.
However, to help ensure claimant expectations can be
met, the four week timeframe has currently been removed
to enable us to gather a fuller picture of demand and
capacity in order to inform a full and robust evaluation
of the interim audio recording policy.
Work Programme
Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for
Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of
whether the Work Programme budget will be
underspent in 2013-14; and if he will make a statement.
[158176]
Mr Hoban: We are unable to comment on the 2013-14
forecast expenditure against the Work programme budget
as it is subject to change as the programme is payment
by results.
Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work
and Pensions what steps he has taken to support people
leaving the Work Programme after two years without a
successful job sustainment. [158211]
Mr Hoban: Jobseeker’s allowance and employment
and support allowance claimants returning from the
Work programme will have a thorough assessment interview
with Jobcentre Plus to understand how best to build on
their time on the Work programme, and continue to
move them closer to the labour market and towards